MikeH

What exactly is that music supposed to accomplish in that scene? It feels so...incongruous.

Well in the latest Powell interview he says that during the process JW actively encouraged him to “do his own thing” and not be so reverent to the existing material. Maybe it depends on who’s at the helm...if it’s a skilled musician JW might be more relaxed about how they handle the material.

Transcript near the end of the first page!

Hmm, interesting. What did you work with for sync reference? Maybe Williams scored a longer version of the sequence. Several of the hit points don’t feel emotionally quite right in the version you posted...ie: the tremelo strings on the “certain death” line instead of when Anakin gets saber-happy. My full score has no sync point descriptions, is there a handwritten sketch that does?

Listening to a bit of Sith. I still get chills from that brief quote of Shmi’s Theme on trumpet during Palpatine’s Teachings. JW absolutely nailed that moment.

Captain Sassma

RAWRGWAWGGR Music and Lyrics by John Powell

Yes. When I first noticed it I was walking down a busy street with loads of traffic and windy weather while listening with earbuds. How that edit escaped anyone in a studio environment, I’ll never know.

Maybe someone erased them from the archive memory.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in his studio when he’s writing wild cues like Chase Through Corooskant and Jango’s Escape. I still listen to the former and wonder just how he conceptualized that whole thing in his head I think the main reason I’m partial to AOTC is due to the pastoral writing, seeing as how Jane Eyre is my favorite JW score.

There’s a lot of interesting parallels between the making of Jaws 2 and Damien: Omen II. 1978. Both troubled productions that fired their directors for similar reasons, originally conceptualized as more psychological/cerebral than outright horror, and eventually hiring directors considered to be more of the journeymen variety who ultimately delivered what the studios wanted. While I do like both films, my favorite shots in each were leftovers from the original directors: the fin in the harbor at dusk, and Damien’s entrance framed in fire at the Thorn estate.

When directly comparing them to the original, of course the sequels will always be found wanting. And while there are some serious, nearly insurmountable issues with Jaws The Revenge, I don’t think it sinks the franchise any worse than some of the low-points in other film series. The opening is good, and I’m always surprised that the scene where Ellen takes to the sea after the banana boat attack gets to me dramatically (admittedly this is 90% due to Michael Small’s music). Yes it’s all wacky, yes it’s freaking Jaws The Revenge, but I think there are definitely worse films out there. Maybe Steven feels more protective over the original film than something like Indy or Jurassic Park. Like I said, it’s not like I want another film in the series, I just think it strange that it’s remained untouched since 1987.

Yes, I love the scores! I actually prefer the promo version of Revenge to the Intrada, mainly because of the way certain cues are combined. Same reason why I enjoy JW’s original LP sequence of Jaws 2...it’s beautifully sequenced and might be my favorite album arrangment of all time. I was surprised by how uninvolved I felt listening to the C&C release.

This is getting out of hand, now there are two of us!

Is this the only major franchise that has not received a sequel/prequel/remake in the past 20+ years? Not that I nor anyone else is clamoring for another sequel, I just find it strange that Hollywood has milked every other property to death but the Jaws franchise is curiously dormant. Sure, Jaws The Revenge was a flop, but that never stopped studios in the past (Halloween 6, Psycho IV, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Exorcist II, Omen III/IV, etc.). Does Spielberg have a ‘never again’ clause with Universal?

Yeah, and why is Augie’s Great Municipal Band so bone dry? Creative choice or just an oops? There’s nothing to gel all the separate layers together.

Crazy to think that relatively recent (and big!) scores like TPM and AOTC have such problems related to archiving. It really is the “it’s finished let’s move on” mentality. These are the kind of things I’d love to hear Williams’ insight on. Of course he’s very humble about his work, I’m sure he still wants everything preserved properly. He has his manuscripts and I’m sure JKMS has all his sketches and full scores digitized by now. Seeing as how JW is such a control freak in the best sense of the label, does he care about this stuff after the film is finished? Or is he even aware of things like TPM not being properly archived?

Yep! I just looked at the score for The Dinner Scene (aka Anakin and Olé!) too, it was probably changed during the session. It'd be interesting to see if JW used that synth harp/flute patch anywhere else in the score and if they kept it for any cues. I'm curious as to what it might sound like...something whistful?

Lol no, I was referring to....a non-Powell score.....

Wonderful stuff! It sounds so crisp and beautifully orchestrated. Powell has always had a knack for creating the same sort of effortless, bright balletic feel that JW does so well. Thank god it doesn’t sound like the orchestra is in the last stages of elephantiasis.

Thank you. Awhile ago when it was suggested that Williams was not happy with Rogue One, some around here vehemently denied that JW would ever say a negative word about someone else’s score that used his themes because he’s “too nice for that.”

Yikes, that cross-fade at 3:15 on the first track of ROTS is....yikes! The clarity is better though, especially with the snare drums.

The Rhodes keyboard solo in Anakin and Padmé is definitely more centered and present in this new mix. In the Clones OST it was panned left and had a more organic quality since it was pushed further into the ensemble. Listening to the new Prequel mixes I can definitely hear the electronics more, where before they were less obvious and felt more acoustic.

Anyone else notice a big difference in JW's physicality when he's conducting vs when he's not? As soon as he starts conducting it's like he's 40 years old again. Amazing.